However, materialism is essential in a relationships presented in the novel, "The Great Gatsby". These relationships are failures because they are built upon material things rather than built on spiritual feelings. Fitzgerald displays that relationships based on materialism will fail. The relationship between Tom and Myrtle is very similar to the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy; these similarities will help us understand the theme of adulterous love in the novel.
Tom and Myrtle's relationship is based on mutual benefits. Basically, Tom uses Myrtle for sex and Myrtle receives gifts and money as a reward. Because Tom is a resident of the "East Egg" (old money), he despises anyone who is not from his class. This is why he treats Myrtle like trash. Tom doesn't even see Myrtle as a human being but as his sex toy. The lack of her husband's success during the duration of the 12 years they've been married, Myrtle has become dissatisfied. Her first meeting with Tom shows her desire for a better and more prosperous life: "I was going up to New York to see my sister and spend the night. He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes, and I couldn't keep my eyes off him, but every time he looked at me I had to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head. When we came into the station he was next to me, and his white shirt-front pressed against my arm, and so I told him I'd have to call a policeman, but he knew I lied. I was so excited that when I got into a taxi with him I didn't hardly know I wasn't getting into a subway train. All I kept thinking, over and over, was 'You can't live forever; you can't live forever" (42). Myrtle's relationship with Tom is based on wealth and materialism. The relationship between Tom and Myrtle is similar, but also very different from the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy.
Even though both of these relationships are both based on material things, they are still very different.